Keeping an Attitude of GratitudeWritten by Louise Morganti Kaelin
When was last time you stopped to acknowledge all good things in your life? Very often, when we're focused on a 'big' goal, or just caught up in day-to-day living, we often forget about things that bring us joy. And when we're feeling down, it's very hard to remember that they exist at all! Yet there is a definite physiological response when we acknowledge our gratitude. Try it now. Close your eyes and think of something (or someone) you're grateful for. Notice how your breathing changes? How it slows down? That you start smiling? And just feel better in general? It is amazing to me how something so simple can change my perspective. No matter what my attitude was when I started, I feel better. And more things I can acknowledge my gratitude for, better I feel. Here's a simple way to incorporate gratitude into your life on a regular basis. 1. Start your day off by remembering what you're grateful for. List everything you can think of. As you continue with this exercise on a daily basis, you'll notice that your list grows.
| | Feeling CompleteWritten by Louise Morganti Kaelin
Every now and again (if we're lucky, it's only every now and again), life forces us to become aware of its cyclical nature: ocean's relentless ebb and flow, budding of spring, desolation of winter. We are confronted by inescapable facts, facts that in hustle and bustle of every day life we are usually able to ignore. The fact that life goes on, but it also slows down, and ultimately, comes to an end. Life has thrown one of these cold hard facts my way. My dad, as I tell people, 'isn't doing well'. He's doing as well as can be expected 'under circumstances'. The circumstances seem to be that all of his organs are slowing down and refusing to work way they were intended to work. He's not in pain but he's not really himself either. He's not loving vital man I remember, man whose faults sometimes outweighed his virtues, but whose love and strength and gentleness are legacy he will leave. He wasn't a talker, but he was a feeler. And I'm incredibly grateful for all years we've had together, and God willing, for more times together in future. But, those times won't be same. That much I've come to accept, although I've spent last 6 months to a year, pretending that it wasn't so. But pretending didn't change cold hard facts. Because we are separated geographically (about an 8 hours drive worth) I don't get to see my parents as often as I'd like. And that certainly helped me maintain illusion. I didn't want to believe it, so it wasn't so! Last weekend, my husband and I did a quick trip down to visit my parents and see my dad in hospital. Before I left, I was speaking to a friend, who was talking about her relationship with her elderly parents. At some point in conversation, she talked about being 'complete' with her parents and asked me if I was 'complete' with my dad. That definitely started me thinking. To be 'complete' means to have no unfinished business with someone or some thing. I am grateful to her for asking me that question, because otherwise I'm not sure I would have thought about it until it was too late. The more I thought about it, though, more I realized that I did feel complete. That there was nothing left unfinished or unsaid. And as I sat by his bedside, I was sure. My heart is filled with sadness, but it is natural sadness of passage of time and our inability to stop process of aging. This wasn't always case, however. I believe I was 27 or 28 first time I ever remembered my dad saying 'I love you' to me. And because he never said it, it wasn't something I found easy to say to him (although it was very easy with my mother). I can still see myself sitting on couch in back room of my old apartment. We had finished a conversation and I said 'I love you'. It was a little scary, and I know I had to work myself up to it. And I remember having prepared myself for silence. But there wasn't silence. He said 'I love you too', then 'bye' and hung up. In fact, although he said it, he said it as though he was surprised it needed to be said. I told you he wasn't a talker!
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